PSL Season
Alright My Ladies! Time to pick out your fave sweater, grab your phone and head to Starbucks, It’s Pumpkin Spice Latte Season or as I’m calling it this year Pumpkin (Stock) Latte.
But before we get any further, there’s a few things I need to get off my chest. I am not a Huge lover of PSL, instead I typically get an Non Fat Americano Misto with a pump of Pumpkin. Not only is the sweetness more managable but the it’s also more cost effective.
Speaking of cost, this is where you phone comes in! Not only to avoid standing in line at Starbucks, but to also share with you ways to stretch your dollar as far as possible.
Let me share my story with you first so you know where I’m coming from. First of all I am not an accountant or CPA of any kind, if you need contacts for those I’ve got you, but trust me, you don’t want me organizing your accounts mine is more than enough for me to handle.
I started off 2018 with over $10,ooo in debt. By the beginning of 2020 I had cleared it, I will say I took a lot of overtime hours and a ESSP payout to help me get there which is why I want to share with you what I’ve learned and what I’m doing differently.
Between the years of 18-21 I enjoyed my life…plenty, however I did not live within my means, this resulted in a very broke (and stressed) twenty somthing. My wake up call was when I a statement in the mail saying, if I was to pay the minimum balance, it would take me 22 years to pay off my credit card…that was a whole other lifetime!
When I decided to switch gears it was a bit of a struggle because while I was paying off my card(s) in large sums, I wasn’t giving myself enough cash flow to cater to my living expenses so I found myself living on this hamster wheel of debt. Pay off card, use card, etc.
It came to the point I had to accept the fact I wasn’t going to pay off the balance as quickly as I would like, but there was a way I could save, spend and build.
Humble myself. This look like saying no to dinners out, and realizing FOMO isn’t king. There are ways to sustain friendships and enjoying life without the expensive bill. Don’t get me wrong, I still love going out it’s one of my favourite things to do, but as your mum has told you there’s a time and a place for everything. Trust me a Bottle of Wine gives you more than enough laughs, tummy aches and dare I say hangovers than expensive cocktails and pricey cabs.
Budget. I know some people are against budgets but for me I am a checklist person, I need my gold star at the end of the day to feel accomplished, budgeting for me helped me stay on track.
Forgive myself. I wasn’t where I wanted to be in my financial journey, but the best thing was I knew I wanted to change and so instead of getting myself all worked up in my spending habits, I forgave myself, faced the music and came to the conclusion that like any habit it’s going to take time and commitment to break or change. One thing that helped me, and might help you if you’re a fellow spender is getting a debit visa. I used my credit more often than not due to convience. It was a game changer for me when I switched banks and was able to get a debit visa, so I wasn’t unintentionally spending the same money twice. New companies like afterpay and sezzle have also made things a bit more managable, while I think it’s best to buy things out right, it is nice to pay in smaller chunks. Another thing I did was GO TO THE BANK. I switch over banks to one where I could meet with someone and discuss my concerns. I know they are a company so be cautious of upselling, but for me they were able to concolidate my creditcards to one line of credit with a lower interest rate. This helped me clear off the remaining 3ooo off my balance within the year. This is also a safe space to ask those “stupid” questions you might not feel comfortable asking friends or family. Let me tell you once you start the conversation there’s no stopping it. I wanted to share with my friends all the answers I just learned, turns out most of them didn’t know the answers to these questions either!
At this point you might be wondering what PSL have to do with any of this.
I’m getting there!
During this season of my life I started reading books on finances, starting with the Financial Diet by Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Hage. Then the Latte Factor by David Bach, Talk Money to Me by Kelley Keehn now I’m onto Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach. The Finanical set my motivation in gear and the Latte Factor maintained it, as it delivered a perspective I hadn’t thought of before. In my brain, I couldn’t save before I cleared off my debt, I couldn’t invest before I saved, and the road to financial stability seemed out of reach. This book thought challenged me to think differently, what If I took out something in my “Financial Diet” that I could exchange for Investment dollars, or Trade Dollars.
I looked at my coffee History in particular Starbucks, working in and out of airports, driving to school, meeting with friends I was spending $75-$150 a month on coffee alone! I decided after my free birthday drink, I wouldn’t spend any money at Starbucks for an entire year. With the money I saved from there I would invest in the Starbucks Stock on my Birthday the following year, as I sipped on my free birthday drink. Disclaimer, I did spend a limited amount on Starbucks this year as it’s hard to find local coffee shops on the highways, but other than that I stuck to my word. When I would go out for coffees I chose local cafes to support.
So that’s exactly what I’m doing.
I know it’s not a balanced portfolio, but it’s a start and here’s my logic.
All the money I am investing in stock, would have been spent anyways at Starbucks so if it all falls apart (which would be a very sad day indeed) in my mind I haven’t lost anything because I was prepared to give it to the company anyways.
I still have lots of learning to do in the investing/trading world and it’s only getting more complicated with Crypto but I used WealthSimple to launch my stock adventure! It was super easy to download and register, it also breaks things down into bite size pieces to help blondies like me figure out what the heck it is I’m doing. I looked into Questrade and I’ve heard great things and features about it but for me the simpler the better.
I now use WealthSimple for Invest, Trade and Cash. I do have a promocode, which gives us BOTH a surprise amount to put into a stock (or cryto) of our choice!
If you have any other questions feel free to reach out, I would be happy to help in anyway I can, from sharing more of my story to connecting you with people who can help you on your financial journey from Realtors, Bookkeepers, Accountants and Bankers!
*This is not financial advice. I am just sharing my personal story.
